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Bon Jovi waives

Spain concert fee

U.S. rock star Jon Bon Jovi and his band are waiving their performance fee for a concert in Madrid as a gesture to their Spanish fans hit hard by the country's severe economic crisis. El Mundo newspaper and other media outlets said tickets for the band's sold-out concert June 27 cost $23 to $50, roughly half normal prices for such concerts.

Buffett buying

another paper

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is adding The Times in Roanoke, Va., to its growing group of small and medium-sized newspapers. It is acquiring the paper from Landmark Media Enterprises. It will be Berkshire's 30th daily newspaper. Berkshire said The Times has daily circulation of 76,000 and Sunday circulation of 90,000.

EU executive wants

roaming fees ended

A top EU commissioner urged lawmakers to abolish cellphone roaming charges as part of an effort to reinvigorate the telecommunications market. Neelie Kroes, the European commissioner for digital policies, issued the appeal during a speech to members of the European Parliament's Industry, Research and Energy Committee in Brussels.

Jobless benefit

claims increase

The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid rose 10,000 last week, to a seasonally adjusted 354,000, a sign layoffs have increased. Still, the level of applications is consistent with steady hiring. The Labor Department says the four-week average, a less-volatile measure, increased 6,750, to 347,250, the third straight gain.

U.S. households yet

to regain wealth

The average U.S. household has a long way to go to recover the wealth it lost to the recession. A new report by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis concludes that after adjusting for inflation and population growth, the typical household has regained only 45 percent of its wealth lost since 2007.

Pending home sales

hit three-year high

The number of Americans who signed contracts to buy homes ticked up in April to the highest level in three years. The increase points to further strength in sales in the coming months. The National Association of Realtors says its seasonally adjusted inde x for pending sales rose 0.3 percent, to 106, the highest since April 2010, when a tax credit inflated sales.

Tesla vows more

charging stations

Electric carmaker Tesla Motors Inc. is promising to boost the number charging stations during the next year so its customers can drive across North America. The company says it will triple the number of charging stations from the current eight by the end of next month. Next year, it expects to have about 100, enough so owners of its sedans can travel from Los Angeles to New York.